In the summer of 64 AD, a fire broke out in a shop beneath the Circus Maximus, soon engulfing Rome's great equestrian stadium, then spreading and burning for more than a week, eventually consuming three-quarters of the city. Emperor Nero returned from Antium and began an ambitious rebuilding program—one that earned him political and popular enemies and inspired a long-standing suspicion that he instigated the conflagration himself.

"Surprisingly little nonfiction exists for a general audience about the Great Fire of Rome.... [Stephen] Dando-Collins fills this gap with an exciting, novelistic account of the fire that remains solidly grounded in the primary source literature.... This book will appeal to general Roman history buffs and students with its fast pacing and dramatic content."—Library Journal